top stories here on our t.v. this hour journalists rights groups react with indifference to the naming and shaming of russian media workers by a british newspaper in connection with allegations of spreading information. a scandal hits one russian town after the children of local officials go on a charity trip to turkey it was organized only for kids with severe illnesses. a traditional christmas song gets a bit of a make over this year poking fun at political correctness over this festive season .

running up your top stories on this christmas day here one arts and international for me rory sushi in the entire newsroom merry christmas and happy holidays to the british newspaper the times has named and shamed staffa to russian media outlets offices in the u.k. after one m.p. accuse the organization of spreading disinformation about hounding of the outlets journalists though has been met with in different spy various media protection groups and initially it was it was a bit of a shock on the other hand is kind of hardly surprising given the anti russian sentiment that is you know travel in all your key newspapers just say and but it's yes not nice to see your picture up there with your name makes and under the headline of being part of a shaman stooge and as i see it you know it's very much part of what's going on just saying you key the sunday times has been so thorough in. reporting of the

threat of so-called russian descent information that its latest story about the russian funded radio station sputnik which has a bureau in edinburgh carries the photographs of the journalists that work there labels them kremlin stooges and quotes a politician who suggests that the assets should be frozen i would good for school harassment i think putting the pictures of photographs of people who work on a newspaper like that i think is tantamount to almost it might put those people's lives in danger i'm a member of the national journalists are we right into my living in the new year to ask what do you need is planning to do about these journalists working for russian media organizations here in the u.k. have had to develop a thick skin over the past few years as tensions between london and moscow have heightened articles calling for outlets like r.t. and sputnik to be banned have become a regular occurrence but recently the big papers have gone

a step further and they started singling out the journalists working for russian media outlets this is the london bureau chief for russia's channel one more series of last month he did some filming outside the gates of a british military base first story about the british army's cyber warfare unit aimed at fighting so-called russian propaganda he didn't break any laws gave his press credentials to all the security guards he met and left several weeks later the u.k.'s daily mail newspaper printed his personal details and accused him of being a spy the story was reprinted by a plethora of papers it ratcheted up so much that the u.k.'s defense secretary issued a statement for citizens to stay vigilant. we sent an inquiry to the defense ministry there's a form on their website but we didn't get any response from near the break this is not a legal it's a public area of public land you don't need permission to for. film there you need

permission to get inside talk to the stuff we didn't record our interaction with the security personnel we didn't try to penetrate the base the b.b.c. correspondent did the exact same thing as us it was broadcast and no one thinks of punishing him there's nothing illegal and you don't even have to work for the russian media to find yourself in hot water just expressing views that the mainstream is enough to be labeled a kremlin stooge putin's poor or useful idiot in the information war nowadays you have extreme language and if you find someone with an opinion which you object to and you don't agree with you then abused him or her by causing by causing them a stooge or to use the famous explosion about lenin there were useful idiots the sputnik story isn't the first time the sunday times has used the naming and shaming tactic back in october the paper to came at the tongue in cheek i see

why in my you tube channel which is funded like r.t. by russian taxpayers and fronted by yours truly the paper didn't shy away from printing my photograph and labelled the project the blue peter of russian propaganda the times didn't request a comment from r.t. or myself it seems that naming and shaming doesn't carry a right of reply. we are several the media organizations to comment on what's happened among them the international federation of journalists the international press institute and the oas we'll let you know when we get a response. the german magazine der spiegel was so it's reporting of one of its former top journalists to the police of allegations he stole donations made to people who were featured in his articles closer to us is already mired in scandal after he admitted last week to fabricating over

a dozen stories to speak will has since sucked the award winning writer it suspects he may have actually faked more stories than he's currently owning up to. oh of course one man who has popularized the term fake news none other than mr a don't hold trouble so here's a look back at some of the biggest banks. you are fake the level of dishonesty you said it. was for. i realized. who she is and how fake the press can be very faked that one from famous catchphrase fake news has dominated the headlines ever since he first uttered it why does it drive his detractors so crazy well some would argue that it's true false information and deceptive reporting seems to be everywhere let's review some of the fake news of twenty eighteen. well one of the most outrageous examples was the cover of time magazine it depicted

a sobbing toddler representing donald trump's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents however it turns out that the girl in the photograph was not separated from her mother. who was not separated from her mother but yeah she's the face of this immigration problem and she has helped create awareness. but let's go through some other examples now folks had a good laugh when it was revealed that the washington post had actually cited the satirical publication known as click call when reporting on the fact that british people were trying to make the song american idiot by green day go to. the charts when donald trump was visiting the country and in other instances we've seen journalists just straight up making things up. for example a reporter for the web zene known as mike claimed that maria who to know who's just pled guilty to charges of being an unregistered lobbyist for russia was in

a meeting at the oval office i thought this was a photo show but it's not this is my review. of the in the russian spy in the oval office with turned out that she was wrong the person in the photograph was actually a national security council staffer but in the journalist defense they both do have red hair and we all know that all of us gingers look the same. how about a paper on canine rape culture in dog parks or a feminist rewrite of hitler's my struggle it turns out that this year fake news was used to make a political point people were submitting fake research in order to expose what they believed was a bias in academia some of the fake research got through. or . go.

and one trend we saw throughout the year was fact checkers retracting their fact checks what could be more embarrassing those who claim they are stopping the spreading misinformation actually spreading misinformation themselves and admitting to it based on what we've seen throughout the year it seems pretty clear that fake news will be well alive in twenty nineteen. r.t. new york. hope for a summer spike from the fake news shenanigans so it's early morning hours right now on christmas morning at the white house and if he's not sleeping and if president trump is not playing on. he might actually be opening some presents. for.

this.

hollow. man. in his. bed sheets. just a bit of christmas cheer right there on our international don't go opening your prices too quickly without wishing all of you a very merry christmas and happy holiday. now of course as the world are celebrate this festive season songs are in the air some have

a slightly different ring to them with the lyrics to carry a less traditional message like the following parody remake of the bells which has attracted thousands of online views. you. sent us the. christmas classics have been having a bit of a hard time lately for example the song baby it's cold outside was banned by some radio stations as sexist of the popular jingle bells slammed as racist why rudolph the red nosed reindeer is apparently a bully on t.v. host and political commentator steve malzberg things the new remake of carol of the bells we just heard actually makes a rather valid point. i

thought it was brilliantly done it address the problem alone that we really have to address in this country here in the united states and it did it in a satirical fashion ironically enough maybe some people will be offended that they took that christmas song and chose it for the error of their music and to do their parody none the less it addressed every one of the problems going on on our universities and college campuses today that address the safe spaces that the college students are given because they can't take it they addressed capitalism being taught is evil gender that you can't assume somebody gender freedom of speech freedom of thought it's all encompassed in this parody and i think it was brilliantly done speaking of political correctness in

a moment we discuss whether children hugging relatives at this holiday time could send the wrong message just a moment we go to our guests in america. what

politicians do something. they put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or something want to. get it right. it's like the. people are. interested always in the water. they should. just quarter past the hour here in moscow right now let's go until has had one russian child after the children of lawmakers travel to turkey using money donated to a charity for kids only with us as our correspondent within a culture of

a picks up the story a group of children from the russian town of clint's a five hundred kilometers from moscow went on a trip to turkey the journey was organized by a charity foundation which helps children with severe illnesses and those. i doubt but in difficult situations it's a bit these go to the consumer. who aren't in the mood with them but at the who continue to conclude or to look at their form dream a new car out of a well turns out some of those children work kids city officials local media discovered a video where the town's top officials try to explain why this happened went viral but you cannot you cannot mean you threw out that they needed to go to the clinic we need to do. it with you. or you could. do it but you might assume. you put your foot in it gets even better or rather wars the mayor's daughter was also among the lucky ones to go to russians were outraged and many of them went on

social media to vent their fury these super arrogance officials are fully confident in their impunity they must be fired a government official is a duty not a privilege. our officials are the neediest people in our country the poorest scumbags but it's not just ordinary citizens who are up in arms officials have also come out strongly against of the incidents calling and immoral and noxious after this scandal erupted so they had of the city administration explained that the children of local officials work as volunteers and some of them are gifted members of society. talented children they are volunteers this is worse than it was the year of volunteers there was a special meeting where the candidates would chosen just as the fund ows to do they had of the charity foundation says there were no violations hearing the selection

process she now plans an official complaint against the local media but the flames of a scandal have already been lit the governor of the region says he will investigate what happened and ask for the local official who loved one being asked about the consequences the willing to put in your book most of which it was which this you know one of the first folks to get your response to the lady well we've learnt that you no longer works there. stock markets in the united states close to christmas at the lowest in decades for that day and saw after president donald trump lashed out at the federal reserve system. the only problem our economy has is the food they don't have a feel for the market they don't understand this is three trade wars or strong dollars or even democrat shutdowns over borders well the following statement from donald trump rumors started so elating that he might even stock the head of the

federal reserve bank jerome powell despite hand-picking him as the chairman a year ago it would actually require congressional approval to fire mr powell but the news was certainly enough to push the markets down even further and in a bid to reassure investors after one of the worst. in decades the treasury minister made what some are calling emergency phone calls to the heads of the six largest banks. and we spoke to jeffrey tako editorial director at the american institute for economic research you things in order to avoid a crisis u.s. trade policy among other issues should be changed. this is actually a very bearish sign about our economic prospects in the future and that's why people are talking about a coming recession the economy is still strong on paper if you look at the data is strong but the job of the stock market is start to read the existing data which is always about the past the job of the stock market is to anticipate the future that

hasn't yet unfolded it hasn't done damage yet but but we're at a very critical moment right now things can change right now and we can reverse course so there's still time tom can reverse this today if he gets rid of his steel tariffs and his aluminum terrorists and makes peace with china and starts to believe in a real free trade. girl scouts in the united states so warning parents not to encourage their children to hug yes this christmas the organization says this could pressure girls into showing other types of physical affection instead the child herself should decide whether or not to give a hug psychologist andrea best yani archibald says learning about consent early on is key. sadly we know that some adults prey on children and teaching the daughter about consent early on can help her understand her rights no one lines have been crossed and when to go to you for help the us girl scouts were founded in one nine

hundred twelve of the group calls itself a leadership development organization promoting confidence courage and character well to discuss this latest advice we spoke with conservative media personality gina luton and women's rights advocate resurfacing. if you don't teach a child early on that they are in control of their bodies and that they are in control of their boundaries then there are subject to later on not be able to set healthy boundaries i think that this is all about communication and that's the key if parents are having the age appropriate conversations with their children that are well documented and data driven then they shouldn't have to have any sorts of concerns for thirty percent of the sexual abuse that happens to a child happens by a family member so here's the fact of the matter children are often not the around people that we would like to think are healthy people unfortunately we don't always know as adults what the appetite a person may have for a child in

a sexual situation these conversations need to be taking long before any gifts are exchanged and any expectation is made i'm not saying that anyone should be lackadaisical about the cues that children are taking but it is a balance and it is something that is really important and we're not going to solve it by telling. a little girl on christmas day that she doesn't have to say thank you to grandma for her gift i just don't think that that's that's when we present that as a solution we're missing out on what is really happening here in my opinion or putting children at greater danger fortunately most times when a person is being molested the parents have no idea if the grandfather uncle is molesting them and so it the onus is on the parents to be aware cognizant of what the child is communicating to you as a parent have determined that these people are safe for your child to be around that the child this taught respect and manners and respect of elders and whatever whatever the appropriate response is for that child in that moment because some

children have a natural bent toward inward and we need to teach our children to be. parents don't always know when a person is a safe person or not and we can't teach girls to put grace before being able to protect instead healthy boundaries no one saying that we should respect for elders . for protecting our children but again if you decide only to protect her child on a holiday when they're already exposed to this relative that there are uncomfortable around the mistake has already made just about the program for this hour here on the international that many more of your monday worldwide headlines continue at the top of the hour my colleague my dear a tutor will be here for you thanks for joining us. join me every thursday on the alex i'm unsure when i'll be speaking to guest of the

world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. the greek riots occupy wall street arab spring these are the beginnings. of the protests across europe today it was all connected it's all based on the exact same concept of bankers printing too much money creating this wealth and income gap and it's a delayed or deferred riot and you know it's true that the the violence was baked into the fiat's cake and now leaders like black hole are getting their just desserts. my seven years doing drugs my nephews was still in drugs my sister just with doing drugs it was like an epidemic of drug abuse america's public enemy number one in the united states

is drug abuse started going after the users in the prison population who are we started treating sick people people who are addicted to these drugs like criminals while i was on the hill. the war on drugs the stink there are with numbers keep. or who are in prison for. sentences for war minor minor offenders in the drug trade it's a lot watching your children grow up and miss you in waves and say by daddy as you're walking out of a business it's just it doesn't get easier. when lawmakers manufacture consent to step into public wealth. when the ruling classes to protect themselves. with the financial merry go round the sun me the one percent. we can

all middle of the room sick. really mean the real news is really. where is that country called russia no one is ever no one has ever heard of and never even heard about most school.

this is a poem bus broadcast around the world from washington d.c. i'm part thanks for joining us we appreciate you hanging out with us coming up today we focus on any policy around the planet we'll be joined by professor richard wolfe and artie correspondent on your part and bill looks at a recent united nations report on poverty in the united states and some reactions at home and abroad plus the c.e.o. of strong market we're word which looks at the wealthiest and poorest nations around the world and r.t.

correspondent trinny charges goes to fisher island florida of the wealthiest zip code in the u.s. for a special report part of it from which i got bus r.t. correspondent dan cohen looks at the more on work at the poorer areas in the nation including right here in the nation's capital the belly of the beast washington d.c. all that straight ahead but first let's get to a few has what we seek to bring a global perspective to the issues we cover here at boom bust so to get a real grasp on the problem of inequality we begin with a report from the library of the british house of commons which is analogous to the library of congress here in the u.s. on what our world will look like in twenty thirty if trends continue the report finds that the richest one percent of humanity is on track to control sixty four percent of the planet's capital and wealth by twenty thirty up from the current fifty percent and measured in dollars that one percent will increase their huge holdings from the current hundred forty trillion dollars to three hundred five trillion dollars the labor party's m.p.

lam byrne who requested the survey told the u.k. guardian that absent major reforms global policy makers are quote risking a new explosion instability corruption and poverty on the other side of the proverbial coin a nov twenty seventh report from credit suisse found that people on the bottom fifty percent of the income scale on less than one percent of global wealth got that fifty percent of lower income folks on less than one percent o.-m. g. . turning back to the us for more granular view of the problem the pew research center noted late last year that the so-called great recession of two thousand and seven to two thousand and nine further exacerbated inequality by race gender and income as one of most trusted analyst of demographics polling and policy in the united states using figures from the federal reserve they found that among americans poor and middle class the gap between white households wealth and black

and hispanic households increased in the wake of the great recession and twenty sixteen white households in these brackets had four times the wealth of comparable african-american families and three times the wealth of hispanic households interestingly pew did find that among lower income household white families lost more wealth than their african-american and hispanic peers. reports about the poor are unfortunately not a new thing over the years we've seen a steady flow of papers studies and reports about the growing poverty united states and what seemed to many people some obscene numbers separating the rich and the poor the haves and have nots as we say with all of this information and data being delivered revealing the staggering level of poverty in the country we may need help to break it all down and put it into the proper perspective again.